This is part three of the series titled, The Stray Dog
The Stray Dog Part 1 is here…
@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog
The Stray Dog part 2 is here…
@krazyuncle/the-stray-dog-part-2
As I’ve said earlier this is part of a series I wrote for a now long gone site… the plug was pulled… so the dates are from the way back when…
me and my shadow of unconditional love... (Image by Krazy Uncle)
update: 11:00pm PDT Friday 16th
I woke up, got up, dressed and opened the back door to check on Karl, it’s nice to see his bright eyes looking back at me.
I did my necessaries and took Karl’s food dish and fresh water out to him. I bring his food dish in at night so as not to attract wildlife, particularly coyotes. We took a short stroll around the yard, and then I fed him some chicken from my hand.
I took a shower, dressed again and started towards town. I decided to check and see if any of the farm guys I worked with were in the shop, but when I got there I found out everyone is out working in the fields seeding green peas or hitting some of the bare spots in the winter wheat, generally they use spring wheat in those small areas. I couldn’t get to the one guy I wanted to speak to because he was seeding up one of the canyons. Not a good place to drive my Dodge Caravan.
So, it was off to town to buy some chicken for Karl and some breakfast for me, hmm… a polo burrito for me from a Mexican food restaurant I finally decided to check out. Good food, very fair price, oversize portions.
In the meantime, and killing time I made it back to the one Dog Groomer open on a Saturday. When I went there earlier in the morning I showed up at naptime(?) really that’s what the sign on the door said – naptime 11:30 to 1:00pm – my kinda place! At 1pm I went inside and talked to a young lady and she informed me the ‘groomer’ is out until Monday, but she gave me all kinds of advice, some – "aw’s" and some “right – right’s” and a vial of a medicine to put on Karl’s shoulder blades to repel the ticks. She also recommended I call the groomer on Monday to get some more advice.
When I got home, I texted my farmer buddy, the one who was seeding in the field, and let him know I had a stray dog with ticks and that I needed his advice. Lennard is about 60 years old, 300 lbs of mostly muscle turning to, well… strong as an ox, but a bit busted up from cowboyin’ and farmin’. Lennard was a real cowboy in his youth, but since the ranch no longer has cattle, he plies his trade as an all-purpose farmer – driving and repairing heavy equipment – fixing everything that breaks and just being an all-around farm hand. These guys on the farm I worked on, have a plethora of knowledge about everything from the inside of an engine with measurements in the Thousandths, to about how many more hundred acres they have to seed/harvest/till/harrow/disc/spray in a day. It always amazes me about the scales of measurements used in farming – that's just me being a geek! Lennard also knows more about plants and animals than anyone I know. I’ve been out in the fields with him and he started pointing out different plants that were just weeds to me, but were edible plants to him. He knows I like learning that kind of stuff and he is only too glad to share.
Lennard called me back when he could and we talked about Karl, he gave me his opinion about what to do with the ticks. And, I asked him about spraying the garage floor for ticks and fleas, once I get Karl cleaned up, and should I have him stay in the house during any toxic period after spraying. He told me not to worry too much about spraying for fleas, as they’ve probably always been there in the warm weather. There are plenty of rodents and mice around, so I’m sure he’s right. He also said the ticks won’t hatch for about a year – like next spring – and then would be a good time to spray for them. But, by that time I’ll have sprayed for the annual Box Elder infestation anyway, and the ticks most likely will be dead after that. Of course my real plan is to have Karl and I moved on to another phase of our lives, in new digs.
Back to Lennard’s advice on grooming Karl, we both decided it may be too soon to attempt to take him in to the vet or a groomer. There may be too much trauma trying to get Karl leashed and the trip to town to meet strange people that will be de-ticking him and cutting his hair. So, I’m going to keep working with Karl to be able to pet him and then I hope to apply the vial of medicine on his back.
So, after Lennard’s call I fed Karl and me, and promptly fell asleep, I love me some naptime, musta been the sign at the dog groomer… yea… that’s it…
I woke up and it was time to go on walkabout with my buddy. I packed my backpack with a water jug, chicken and whatever else might come in handy. Plus a light jacket I knew I wouldn’t need unless I did, never can tell when you’re in the country, and I’d rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.
Karl, the Wheat Shark (Image by Krazy Uncle)
We took off up the dirt road between the fields and sooner than expected we were at the top. From there we can see about fifty plus miles into the distance all around us. Even in the haze I could see Rattlesnake Mountain a treeless sub-alpine ridge of about 3,500 feet that is behind a city about fifty miles away. To the south is another higher hill then the one we were on, and I could see someone using it as a runway for an ultralight aircraft, that soon disappeared from view. At the top of the hill it became decision time, do Karl and I go down the steep road into the canyon?
I looked at Karl and he looked at me and away we went down into the canyon. On the canyon road the wind died down and it got hot, or about 75 in the sun. I’m not used to the sun and heat yet, and it’s only going to get much hotter. Plus I was wearing a dark blue shirt, and the backpack straps cut off the air circulation through my shirt, that was the reason I was sweating so hard and it couldn’t have anything to do with how out of shape I am… naw… The road down into the canyon cut through CRP grass, or for you city slickers, Conservation Reserve Program grass, it’s about two feet high and grows in clumps, the farmers use to meet the regulations the government sets down for wildlife habitat, plus they get paid for not farming it. The grass that is standing now is from last year and it is tan, soon it will be replaced with green blades. Across from the road is one of the steeper hills that we farm, it commands respect from everyone on the farm because of that steepness. Right now it’s planted in dry peas as a rotation crop, rather than wheat.
At the bottom of the canyon is a ravine that the road is built over and joy of joys it’s also a spot that my boss has his crew dump his yard clippings into. Strangely Karl starts rolling on his back in the clippings and rooting his nose into them. Once I get closer I realize why? There’s a dried carcass of what was probably a deer or maybe a coyote half buried in the grass clippings. Hmm… dead things are a common occurrence on the farm, burial is generally without ceremony and haphazard – the idea is to get whatever carcass is there, out of the way so work can continue. Karl found the hide to be so much fun he had to come back for seconds on the rolling around bit, yeah great – but wait there’s more. As we start trudging up the hill I spot some coyote poop. Being the smartass I am, I point it out and tell Karl, “Oh, here’s something you can roll around in too, don’t miss that.” I continue staggering up the hill and turn to catch Karl rolling in coyote poop, “Uh, dude we gotta talk.” Oh, well… he’s such a mess right now what’s a little dead deer stink and coyote poop gonna hurt?
BTW, rolling in coyote poop is one of Karl's favorite things to do... oh, the bath times we've had... yep, good time... good times... grrrr...
Aw... the sport of dogs... rollin' in stink... (Image by Krazy Uncle)
We got about a quarter of the way from home and I realized I need to bring a water bowl for Karl. I had water for me, but I didn’t have any for him – being a dog buddy is a steep learning curve – next time I’ll know. About this time Lennard texted me again and wrote that mixing garlic with hamburger might help with the ticks on Karl so, once we got back to the house, it was off to town again and I bought the ingredients for garlic hamburger, extra, extra garlic. It’s a good thing I like garlic too.
So, that’ about where we are at, I still can’t pet Karl, but I’m not pushing it. On our walks he comes right up to me and walks in my shadow at times. We’ll get there soon enough, and I’ll keep updating this as long as everyone is interested.
Thanks to everyone for your advice, and well wishes for Karl and me. I will get Karl to the vet or groomer as soon as I can, but I’m afraid of setting back the trust I’m building with him if I push too hard.
Stay tuned for the next update.
P.S. as I’ve said earlier, this series was printed a few years ago on another site, that is now long gone. I had several people following along with the story, and we had some great discussions about dog ownership. In the last couple paragraphs I mentioned feeding Karl… garlic. I was sternly admonished to not do this as garlic to dogs is toxic. After my own internet search I realized that my commentor was very right. It turns out there are a lot of foods people eat that are hazardous to dogs. And, everyone – even those that don’t own a dog should look into the list of foods that are toxic to dogs, oh an probably the not-dogs… er, you know – cats... This is a short list and by no means complete, but besides garlic being toxic to dogs, so are onions, avocados, grapes, raisins, coffee, chocolate and a whole lot more – even cat food isn’t good for dogs, it’ll mess up their kidneys… do some research and find out what is toxic to dogs and you’ll feel a lot better knowing, rather than wondering…